Courtyard of the Valaam Monastery in Priozersk

The courtyard of the Valaam Monastery was founded in Priozersk in 1872. In the Soviet years, it was closed, but in 1989 it was restored and reopened to the public. In the middle of a pine forest, you can visit the Church of All Saints and the Church of the Nativity of Christ. 

The Valaam Transfiguration Monastery is one of the spiritual centers of Russian Orthodoxy. It was founded on the Valaam Islands in the middle of Lake Ladoga in the 15th century. The monastery could not develop for a long time because of the wars between Russia and Sweden. Only during the Northern War under Peter I, the lands west of Lake Ladoga were ceded to Russia. In the 19th century, under Abbot Damaskin and his successors, the Valaam Monastery reached its heyday. More than one thousand monks lived there, and the monastery owned large land plots in the north of Russia. 

After the 1917 Revolution, Finland was granted independence. The Valaam Monastery, as well as the city of Priozersk, became part of Finland. The city was named Kyakisalmi. Under the Finns, the Valaam Monastery and its courtyard were not closed, but after the return of these territories to the Soviet Union in 1944, the monastery was closed. 

Given the complexity of navigation on Lake Ladoga, the Valaam Monastery needed a Courtyard on the shore of Lake Ladoga. This place was chosen by the city of Priozersk. In the 19th century, it was called the city of Korela. In 1892, the stone Church of All Saints was built here (it has survived to this day) and outbuildings. After the restoration of the Courtyard of the Valaam Monastery in 1989, another Church of the Nativity of Christ was built here.